Welcome to The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter where you’ll always find the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis.

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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📺 Jim Nantz shared a never-before-told story that he almost left sports to take the CBS This Morning anchor job in 2004.

🏀 TCU star Hailey Van Lith is appearing on the digital cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue between another Elite 8 appearance and a likely first-round selection in the WNBA Draft.

🏀 Early numbers are in, and the Houston-Florida thriller in the national championship game drew the highest rating for the contest since 2019.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

LIV and let die

On Sunday, LIV Golf set the stage for its statement about how close it could come to matching the PGA Tour in the battle for world golf supremacy. After years of anonymity, the renegade Saudi tour had a national television broadcast window on Fox Sports that went head-to-head with the Texas Open on NBC, giving it its biggest exposure to date.

Not only that, but several elements were working in LIV’s favor on Sunday. The Miami event was played at their most recognizable course on the schedule at Trump Doral (former host for PGA Tour events from 1962-2016). The notoriety of the sitting POTUS being there to kick off the festivities certainly gave the event added publicity. And in terms of star power, there was no comparison between the LIV Golf leaderboard (Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson all finished in the Top 10) and the PGA Tour (Brian Harman waltzed to victory ahead of Ryan Gerard, Andrew Novak, and Mav McNealy).

Unfortunately for LIV, the result in the final numbers was about as successful as Greg Norman’s final round at the 1996 Masters.

On Sunday, the PGA Tour outrated LIV Golf by more than a 3-1 margin, drawing 1.75 million viewers compared to 484k for LIV. Although this was a record audience for LIV, it is disappointing that it still paled compared to the competition.

After PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan openly talked about potential reunion and reconciliation, golfers from both sides have poured cold water on any hopeful rhetoric about a big, great golf family reunion. It’s a news cycle we’ve seen play out multiple times before. We’re now almost two years out from the announced merger between the two sides that now seems further away than ever.

And with LIV Golf taking their best swing at the PGA Tour and falling well short, any leverage from the Saudi side when making a deal is rapidly disappearing. The Saudis have spent billions of dollars and can’t even beat the numbers the UFL is producing on Fox.

LIV’s presence isn’t helping the Tour. The combined audience numbers on Sunday were about equal to what the Texas Open drew last year on its own. But any notion that LIV would supplant or seriously damage the PGA Tour can now only be seen as fiction. Aside from cloning Tiger Woods and bringing him back in his prime like the dire wolf, the days of thinking LIV Golf could be a true competitor for the PGA Tour are likely over.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

After winning the national championship, Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. wanted no part of the Gators’ mascot crashing his family photo. Thankfully, the mascot could play it off like a true pro.

In his latest contradictory, confusing, and confounding statement about his political ambitions, Stephen A. Smith is not running for president… but he’s keeping his options open to do just that.

To show you just what a bizarro world timeline we are living in, anti-Trump social media pages are now promoting Dave Portnoy for calling out Clay Travis for not telling the truth about the stock market crash caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs.

🔦 IN THE SPOTLIGHT ☀️

Ian Eagle called a flawless Final Four and has taken the baton from Jim Nantz as the lead March Madness announcer with aplomb. He has officially now risen from fan favorite status to being one of the top broadcasters in sports alongside the likes of Nantz, Joe Buck, and Mike Tirico.

🏄 _{CHANNEL SURFING} 🌊 

🤸‍♀️ LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne objects to a possible House settlement, saying that she and other female athletes may not receive an equitable amount of back pay damages. [NOLA.com]

📺 Sports Emmy nominations are out, and ESPN is trumpeting about leading the way with 63 total nominations. [ESPN]

⚾ In an interview with the New York Times, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred offered hope to fans that the blackout era in baseball may soon end. [New York Times]

🗣️ NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“I was like ‘what the f— are these clowns doing, man? At that moment I knew we had them.” - Former Ohio State QB Will Howard to Jon Gruden about the Tennessee Volunteers’ shirtless stunt before their College Football Playoff game in Columbus.

"Look, every other athlete, whether it be in the NBA, NFL, they're obligated to speak to you guys after a game. We're not." - Rory McIlroy addressing the golf media at the Masters and the controversy over Collin Morikawa skipping out on talking to the press.

“I thought that was a terrible game and I thought it was a terrible watch. And I kind of resented that I stayed up for the entirety.” - FS1’s Danny Parkins was not a fan of the quality of basketball in the Houston-Florida national championship game.

🔥THE CLOSER🔥

Fine wine has nothing on Bill Raftery

While we gave praise to Ian Eagle on the site yesterday, let’s also set aside some space for his broadcast colleague Bill Raftery. Taking nothing away from Grant Hill’s work as the third person in what Awful Announcing readers voted as the best broadcast booth in all of sports, Raftery is still better than ever at the ripe old age of 81.

Age is truly just a number when it comes to top basketball announcers. Hubie Brown recently stepped away at the age of 90 and remained as sharp as ever until his final broadcast. Dick Vitale has bravely battled against cancer and returned to the broadcast booth for ESPN at 85 years of age.

And then there’s Bill Raftery, who isn’t just calling the NCAA Tournament for CBS, but working a full season’s worth of games between CBS Sports and FS1.

What’s even more impressive is that his style is based on energy. Everyone loves Bill Raftery, from his trademark phrases like “man-to-man” and “ONIONS!” But his commentary is also unique and beloved because of his quick wit and rapid observations. During Monday night’s title game between Houston and Florida, he was the first to step in and quickly say that Emanuel Sharp couldn’t pick up the ball again after jumping in the air because it would be a travel.

Like Ian Eagle, Raftery had to wait long for the call to be a lead announcer for the Final Four on television after being behind Billy Packer on the CBS depth chart for years. When Packer retired, CBS and TNT Sports tried Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, and Greg Anthony as lead analysts. But now Bill Raftery’s love of the game and his infectious enthusiasm have been enjoyed on the biggest stage in the sport for the last decade.

Hopefully, it will remain that way for a long time to come.